Louis van Gaal believes Manchester United have their confidence back after the Dutchman kept alive his dream of winning the FA Cup with victory at Derby.
Van Gaal and his team have been heavily criticised this season and arrived in the east midlands under heavy pressure and intense scrutiny after months of indifferent results and uninspiring performances.
There were also reports - strenuously denied by the Dutchman - that he offered to quit after last weekend's home defeat by Southampton in the Premier League.
It was against Championship opposition, but United looked, for much of the game, something resembling the attacking, swashbuckling side we have become accustomed to.
Anthony Martial provided the flair as he laid on goals for Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata, with Daley Blind also scoring for United in between.
Despite some nervous minutes after George Thorne equalised for Derby, it was comfortable in the end for the eleven-time winners of the FA Cup.
Now van Gaal has set his sights on United winning the competition for the first time since 2004.
"I'm very happy. The result and the performance was good. The confidence is back," said the Dutchman.
"It was maybe better than we had trained. We played at the right time against the resistance of Derby.
“We gave their goal away but at half-time I said that it was a good performance, keep it up and we will win. And we did.
"The Premier League is very important but the FA Cup is the greatest cup in England with a long and important history.
"We haven't won it for a long time so we dream of it. But after two wins you can't say that we will win it."
And the 64-year-old remains confident he still has the faith of United's hierarchy.
He said: "It is not a question of one match. It is difficult to understand, but it is a process. It is a period of three years.
"This board is very intelligent to understand that."
Several Irish players featured for Derby in the United defeat, including Richard Keogh, above, who wore a mask to protect a facial injury.
